Invertebrate pests and in particular arthropods and nematodes destroy growing and harvested crops and attack wooden dwellings and commercial structures, causing large economic loss to the food supply and to property. While a large number of pesticidal agents are known, due to the ability of target pests to develop resistance to said agents, there is an ongoing need for new agents for combating invertebrate pests, in particular insects, arachnids and nematodes.
The DE 19547475 describes 3-(2,4-dioxo-pyrimidin-3-yl)-6-cyano-phenyl sulfide derivatives and their applications for protecting crops against harmful insects and weeds.
The US 2006/0106042 describes 2-(4,4-difluoro-but-3-enylsulfanyl)-pyrimidines that may carry heterocyclic groups and their sulfinyl and sulfonyl derivatives. Also described is the activity of these compounds against insects, arachnids and nematodes.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,354 describes 3-(4-oxo-pyrimidin-3-yl)-phenyl sulfide derivatives and their activities against various insect and mite pests.
The pesticidal activities of the compounds of prior art, in particular their activities against arachnids such as mites are not always satisfactory. Moreover, there is an ongoing need for further pesticidal compounds for the reasons outlined above.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide compounds that have a good pesticidal activity, in particular insecticidal activity, and show a broad activity spectrum against a large number of different invertebrate pests, especially against difficult to control arthropod pests and/or nematodes.